


self defense

by torigates



Category: Women of the Otherworld - Kelley Armstrong
Genre: Cunnilingus, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 13:33:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torigates/pseuds/torigates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeremy worries. Jaime decides to take some self defense classes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	self defense

**Author's Note:**

  * For [magisterequitum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magisterequitum/gifts).



It was Jeremy's stubbornness that set off Jaime's resolve.

He was visiting her in Chicago for the weekend, one of increasingly often visits. They were doing their best to fit their relationship into their lives, rather than fitting their lives around the relationship. It was working for them, Jaime thought. Sure, there were times (okay, all the time) that Jaime wished they could spend more (okay, all) time together, but they both had lives that they were invested in, and they were making it work. That was what mattered.

But she digressed. Jeremy had come to visit Jaime on one of the extremely rare weekends where he could get away and she was actually in town and not on tour. The two of them had spent an amazing weekend together, going around town, seeing the sights, doing all the regular tourist stuff. Yeah, right.

They hadn't left her apartment all weekend, had barely left her bedroom.

As always it was great, albeit brief. _Jeremy_ was great. The trouble didn't start until it was time for Jeremy to head home.

"What time do you have to be at the airport in the morning?" Jaime asked after a particularly sweet round of lovemaking. And it had been lovemaking. Don't get her wrong, the two of them participated in their share of sex, and outright fucking, but lately she had noticed, especially when it closer to the time for them to part ways their sex took on a more desperate, tender side to it.

She wasn't complaining. _At all_.

"Don't worry about it," Jeremy said quietly, stroking her back. "I already called a cab to pick me up in the morning."

She sat up abruptly. "What?" she asked.

He looked at her as if she were a bit crazy. Which, fair enough, was a look to which Jaime was accustomed to being subjected. It happened after a lifetime of seemingly talking to herself often. She didn't, however, feel it was warranted in this case.

"I called a cab," he said. "I thought you'd appreciate the chance to sleep in. My flight is early."

She stared down at him. "No," she said. "Don't be ridiculous, I can drive you."

He shook his head.

"I want to," she said. "I rather spend more time with you than sleep in. That's not even a hard one, come on."

"No," he said.

She reached over the side of the bed and tugged on a shirt. The conversation was beginning to feel more and more like one she shouldn't have naked.

"No?" she asked. "Why not? Don't give me that bullshit about wanting to sleep in because I already said I don't want to."

He sighed and seemed to internally debate with himself whether or not to answer her truthfully. She felt herself gearing up for a real fight if she so much detected the faintest trace of a lie. They worked too hard at this relationship to fall into that kind of dishonest behaviour.

"I don't want you driving alone."

Jeremy, as the Alpha of the North American Werewolf Pack decidedly did _not_ mumble. However, he certainly sounded far less confident than normal.

Jaime stared at him. "You know I often drive myself to _and_ from places alone when you're not here, right?"

He nodded, and while Jaime was sure no one in the Pack would call it sulking to his face, _she_ did not have any such compunctions about doing so.

"Why're you sulking?"

He looked outraged. "I am not sulking," he said. "I just don't like the idea of you driving home alone in the middle of the night alone."

She noticed he said ‘alone’ twice. He had the grace at least to look somewhat ashamed about it. "I worry," he said.

Jaime felt most of the fight in her deflate. He did worry, she knew that. And her track record said it wasn't entirely without cause.

"I know," she said laying back down next to him. "And I appreciate that, I really do. But you can't coddle me like that. I can drive places on my own without you, and unless you're planning to be around 24/7 or hire me a bodyguard that is unavoidable."

He perked up.

"I'm _not_ getting a bodyguard," she said, cutting him off before he could get any ideas. Although she certainly wouldn't object if he wanted to follow her around all the time...

On second thought, maybe she _would_. Part of the reason their relationship worked so well was because they both respected each other's autonomy.

Still, Jaime couldn't stop thinking about the reason for Jeremy's worrying. Even after she won this particular battle and dropped him off (after a spectacular round of morning sex, if she didn't say so herself), she couldn't stop thinking about it. About the fact that as much as it might get her hackles up, Jeremy had a right to worry, and what was more, he had a reason to.

Jaime would never be able to completely deter that reason. She was dating the Alpha and she was weak (physically, she reminded herself, physically she was weaker). That didn't mean she couldn't prepare herself to the utmost should (and given her history probably when) the need presented itself.

Her first thought was to call Elena. Who better to discuss self defense than someone who was an expert? However, when she stopped to actually think about it, she realised two things. First, Elena wouldn't keep a secret from Jeremy, and Jaime wasn't sure this was something she wanted to share with him right away. She wanted the chance to prove to herself that she could do it, and she didn't want to make a fool of herself if she couldn't. She didn't want Jeremy to step in and teach her, either.

The second thing she realised was that Elena hadn't had to worry about self defense in years. Decades, even. She had an inherent advantage that Jaime didn't, and it made more sense to get her advice from someone who understood where she was coming from.

She called Paige.

“Jaime, hi!” Paige sounded breathless in the way that meant she was in the middle of anything from researching a case, fleeing for her life, or wild passionate sex with Lucas. Not that that Paige allowed herself to be interrupted during last one happened all that often. Jaime was pretty sure she only answered the phone during sex once or twice when they were in the middle of a serious case, but she could never be sure, and Paige would never confirm or deny her suspicions. It was a bit of a running joke between those on the Council as to who had been caught in or just after the act: Paige and Lucas, or Elena and Clay. Jeremy insisted Elena and Clay should be the clear winners given the number of times he had caught the two of them, but there was some debate as to whether any of the times before the Werewolves joined the Council counted or not. 

“Hi,” Jaime said. “You sound out of breath, did I catch you at a bad time?” 

“No, no,” Paige assured her. “I’m just in the middle of going through some files.”

Jaime internally sighed with relief and decided not to press in case Paige _wasn’t_ simply perusing some files. 

“What’s up?” she asked. “Unless you were just calling to chat?” 

“No,” Jaime said. “I mean yes, I am calling for a reason, but it’s not urgent, or anything. How’re you? How’s Lucas? Savannah?” 

Paige laughed, and they chatted for a few minutes, Paige giving updates as to what was new in their lives and the cases they were working on. Thirty minutes later she finished explaining how she and Lucas were beginning to seriously consider moving to Miami. 

“Wow,” Jaime said. “Big change.” 

Paige snorted. “Tell me about it. Anyway, enough of my ramblings. You said you called for a reason?” 

“Yeah,” Jaime said, suddenly feeling a little bit self conscious. “I was thinking it’s probably time for me to look into some self defense classes.” She paused. “Or something.” 

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Jaime felt her face heat up. “Or maybe not. Do you think it’s a dumb idea?” 

“No!” Paige rushed to reassure her. “No, it’s a good idea. A great idea. Sorry, I was just thinking how best to answer.” 

Jaime relaxed. 

“I’m a little surprised you came to me,” Paige added. “And not Jeremy. Or Elena?” 

“I was going to ask Elena,” she admitted. “But I thought you might have a better idea of what it’s like to work within certain limitations. No offense,” she added quickly. 

Paige laughed outright. “None taken,” she said. “You’re right, I definitely do. Although I still have my spells as my primary line of defense.” 

Jaime listened attentively while Paige launched into a full explanation of her own workout regimen. She had a lot of good ideas, ones that Jaime probably would have considered had she stopped to take a minute to really think about it. Cardio was important, Paige explained. That made a lot of sense. No matter how strong Jaime made her body, or how many fighting moves she learned, there were some (okay, a lot) of opponents that she wasn’t going to be able to best. There was no shame in running away. 

Paige gave her a couple more good suggestions, and Jaime figured she could fit an hour of cardio every day into her schedule along with some self defense classes on top of the yoga and pilates she was doing. She thanked Paige for her time and turned on her computer so she could figure out what would work best with her travelling schedule. 

It wasn’t that Jaime expected to become a kung-fu genius overnight or anything, but she did start to notice almost immediately that she had a lot more energy. Jaime had always been an elliptical girl, or occasionally the stationary bike, on the rare occasions that she made it to the gym for anything other than a group class. She had to admit, however, that Paige had a good point about running. Besides her own necromancer powers, it was easy to see how good stamina could be the most useful tool in her arsenal. 

It was really hard at first. Jaime always considered herself to be relatively fit, but somehow apparently that didn’t translate into running long distances. She got herself some good sneakers and downloaded a bunch of different training regimens off the internet and sweat through all her sports bras, but it was good. 

Really good. 

She joined a self defense class and a kickboxing group with a focus on how women could protect themselves, and it was just actually a lot of fun. She went home after every class and every workout feeling accomplished. Like she was making progress and doing something just for herself, but also like she was really contributing to her own overall well being and place in the world. 

She didn’t set out to keep it a secret from Jeremy at first, honestly. Well, maybe just at first. Jaime wanted to get a feel for things before she started telling people… Jeremy, because what if she were terrible at it? It would be so embarrassing. And while logically she knew Jeremy didn’t particularly care about her physical expertise, she still didn’t want him to see her fail at something. 

Then a few weeks went by and Jaime found herself really enjoying it, and clearly it was the time to share everything she had been up to, but every time she opened her mouth to talk about it, she found herself feeling irrationally panicky. What if he thought it was dumb? What if he thought _she_ was dumb? Or just doing it to get his attention? 

The worst part was that she _was_ being dumb. Or at least silly. But still, every time she opened her mouth to tell him nothing came out and she found herself asking about Kate and Logan, or his latest painting, or her upcoming tour, and suddenly it was time for the next Interracial Council, and almost four months had gone by and Jaime wasn’t altogether sure how it had happened. 

“How’s the self defense going?” Paige asked once all the official business was wrapped up for the day. 

Jaime cringed internally. Jeremy was standing right next to her. He didn’t otherwise outwardly react, but she could feel his hand tense at the small of her back. 

“Good,” she said as cheerfully as she could. “Really good. Thanks for the tips.” 

The topic was mercifully changed swiftly, but Jaime knew it wasn’t something she was going to get out of discussing, and she found herself facing the now familiar panic that came whenever she thought about talking to Jeremy about it. 

“So,” he said when they were finally alone. 

Jaime didn’t bother pretending she didn’t know what he was talking about. There was no point in drawing out even further. 

“Are you mad?” she asked. 

His brow furrowed--dammit, adorably. “No,” he said slowly. “I’m a little confused as to why you didn’t tell me. And curious why you thought I’d be mad, of all things.” 

Jaime shrugged. “I didn’t really think you would be,” she admitted. “I was worried you might think it was a waste of time, or that it was silly.” 

Jeremy listened attentively, like he always did, and Jaime could tell immediately from the look on her face that she _had_ been silly to worry. 

He came over and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Jaime immediately tucked her face into the crook of his neck, and they stood together for a long moment. She let the comfort of his strength soak into her.

When he pulled back he didn’t say anything, but Jaime could see the hint of teasing in his eyes. It was easy to let the whole story spill out, from their conversation months ago to the classes and the running and everything. Jeremy watched her attentively, nodding and making soothing uh-huh-ing noises in all the right places and Jaime realised it wasn’t that she was afraid of what Jeremy was going to say, she just wanted to do something for herself for a little while. 

“And I know I’ll never be able to fight off a half-demon or werewolf, or probably not even a spell caster,” she concluded. “It just made me feel better to _do_ something, you know?” 

Jeremy nodded seriously, and put his hands carefully on her face, tilting her up for a kiss. His lips were dry and hot against hers, and she shivered despite the number of times they had done this now. It still felt new and exciting and amazing. 

“I know,” she said after a moment. “I’m ridiculous.” 

Jeremy stared at her. “I was going to say wonderful, but.” He shrugged exaggeratedly, and she smacked his chest. 

He leaned down and kissed her again, opening his mouth against hers. His arm shifted down from her shoulders to the small of her back, locking her firmly against his body. She pressed up on her tiptoes to kiss him more soundly, and he smiled against her lips. 

“Want to show me some moves?” 

She leaned back as far as his arm, a vice-like grip around her back will let him, and stared a bit incredulously. 

“No!” she said, laughing. “I don’t want you to laugh at me, and besides it’s not like they’d do any good, you have all the advantage.” 

“Come on,” he said. “It’ll be… a challenge.” His eyes darkened, and she thought about all the times she had caught Elena and Clay play wrestling (or actually all out sparring), and she wondered if maybe she hadn’t made a big mistake keeping this from him. She thought about all the one on one… tutoring she could have had if only she had brought this to him earlier. 

“No,” she said, still laughing, and took a step backwards. 

His arms came up to rest lightly on her shoulders, and quick as she knew how she wrapped one hand around his right wrist and twisted into his body, tucking shoulder arm up and under his armpit and throwing his weight over her right shoulder. She felt him fly over her back like the instructor showed her how to do in class. Felt the brief moment of actual surprise, followed quickly by the way he relaxed his body and let her throw him. 

When he was lying flat on his back he laughed up at her. “Well done,” he said. 

She shrugged. “You let me do that.” 

He looked even more impressed. “You could tell?” 

She nodded. “Thanks for not bruising my ego, or throwing me across the room.” 

He chuckled and got to his feet. “I mean it,” he said. “Want to show me another?” 

She shrugged. “Sure. Come here.” 

He stood and walked over to where she was standing. Jaime looked behind her to make sure there was enough room for what she wanted to do. Sure, she wanted to throw him, but she didn’t want to actually hurt him. Not that she was under any illusions as to what she could do to him, but the last thing she needed was for some kind of freak accident and Clay to come and rip her head off because she had somehow managed to maim Jeremy. 

“Put your hands around the back of my neck,” she said, showing him how to grab her. 

He followed her instructions and raised an eyebrow. “Now what?” 

She moved her arms up inside his grip on her and grabbed the back of his neck with both hands, before dropping all her weight to the ground and pulling his upper body with her. She planted her foot firmly on his lower stomach and used his momentum to throw him over her head. She rolled to her feet and he stared at her from the ground once more. Again, she’d been able to tell that he let his body go willingly, but it was something to know she executed the move properly. 

“And then I’d run,” she said with a bit of a shrug. 

He jumped to his feet and stalked forward. Jaime took several steps backwards. 

“You don’t seem to be running,” he said with a glint in his eye. 

“Well,” she grinned. “I’m not in danger right now, am I?” 

He continued to move forward until the backs of Jaime’s knees hit the bed behind her. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” he said. 

And pounced. 

They collapsed on the bed, his hand cradling the back of her head. Jaime smiled up at him slightly breathless, more from their bodies pressed together than any of the fighting moves she had just been demonstrating. 

She tilted her head back and Jeremy leaned down, kissing the underside of her jaw. He scraped his teeth along the tendon in her neck before sucking hard. 

She gasped. “You’re going to leave a mark,” she said, trying to sound chastising. It came out breathless instead. 

Jeremy grinned against her skin, and she felt it. She wanted to smack him, but suddenly her hands were altogether too occupied with tugging on his hair. He brought his mouth up to hers, and he kissed her hungrily, opened mouth and wet. 

She slid her hands down from his hair, running them over his strong shoulders and back, before slipping them under the hem of his shirt. His skin was warm and smooth beneath her palms, and she pushed at the garment until he was forced to pull back and remove it. 

He smiled down at her. 

“How would you get out of this?” he asked. 

She arched an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t.” 

He smirked at her briefly before turning his attention to her clothing, removing them in short order. She shifted her hips so he could pull down her pants and underwear, and when she was completely naked he looked down at her with an expression of pure want on his face. 

Jaime knew she would never get tired of seeing that look on him. 

He pressed his face against her stomach, breathing her in for a moment. He gripped her her knees, and guided her legs over his shoulders. Jaime tilted her hips up in an invitation, and Jeremy settled comfortably between her legs. 

Jaime didn’t want to say that their sex life wasn’t diverse, but this was something they did a lot. Jeremy loved to eat her out, and would do so for what felt like forever. Not that Jaime had any complaints, mind you. 

She empathetically did not. 

Sometimes he liked to take things slowly, pressing long, opened mouth kisses to the inside of her thighs, sucking hickeys along the crease of her hip. He didn’t do that now, instead he pressed his hot mouth against her cunt, licking a long stripe and sucking on her clit. Jaime bucked up against him, and he put two fingers inside her, fucking her steadily through the pressure on her clit. 

“Oh fuck, Jeremy,” she said. 

Her hands were in his hair, and she tugged on the ends, trying to get his mouth closer, wanting to get more of him. He resisted, licking and sucking on her clit, and fucking her with his fingers. She gasped and moaned writhing on the sheets. Her entire body felt hot all over, and she could feel her orgasm quickly approaching. 

“Oh god,” she said. “Jeremy, I need--I need--” 

He hummed against her, and the vibrations jolted her over into coming. Still he didn’t let up, just fucked her harder with his fingers and gentled the pressure with his mouth. He trailed kisses down her thighs, and sucked a dark bruise on her hip before kissing up along her stomach to her breasts. She gasped when he pulled his fingers out of her and trailed the sticky wetness on her belly. 

She wrapped her arms around his neck. She hitched her legs up and bracketed his waist. She could feel him hard against her. 

“God, I want you,” she whispered. 

He groaned and ducked his head, sucking on her breast. She tilted her hips up until she could feel him pressing against her entrance. She shifted an arm down between them, guiding her into him. He bit down on her nipple and she tugged on his hair until he moved to kiss her. 

Their movements were fast and frantic after that, and things seemed to pass in a daze. She could feel him moving inside her, could tell she was still kissing him. Felt the muscles in his back move against her palms as she held his body over her own, and yet she could not grasp on to any moment. 

Everything was hot and hazy, and she knew she was close to coming again. “Come on,” he whispered against her mouth. “Come on, baby, get there, yeah.” 

She tightened her arms around him and clenched down, her orgasm washing over her again and again and again. It felt like she would never stop coming, and still he moved against her, inside her. 

When he finally did come, he gasped wetly against her neck and Jaime moved her hands over his nape, through his hair and down his shoulders and back. They lay together for a long time, just breathing. 

Finally, when it felt like her chest might collapse under his weight, she pushed on his shoulders until he rolled over. Jaime could sense him pulling on the blankets until they were both covered, and she snuggled up against his side with his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders. 

She slept. 

She woke to the feeling of Jeremy gently carding his fingers through her hair. She stretched and kissed his shoulder before looking up at him through her lashes. 

“Hi,” she said. “That was fun.” 

He smiled, and twined the strands of her hair tightly around his hand. “I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t tell me about your classes,” he said seriously. 

“Hey,” she said, moving so most of her weight was propped up over his chest. “No,” it wasn’t that. “I just wanted to do it for myself.” 

“So, my overbearing nature had nothing to do with it?” he asked wryly. “Had nothing to do with the fact that you kept it to yourself.” 

She opened her mouth to dispute him, then paused. 

He smiled. “See? I did have something to do with it.” 

“Okay, yes,” she conceded. “But it wasn’t like that. It wasn’t--” she trailed off unsure how to put words to what she was feeling. “It was something I wanted to do for myself,” she said slowly. “But I also wanted to do it for us. I wanted you to trust me to take care of myself, and I wanted to earn that trust.” 

“I know,” he said, still looking worried. “I’m still sorry you felt like you couldn’t share it with me.” 

She leaned down and kissed him thoroughly. He hummed into her mouth, before pulling back. 

“Don’t distract me, I’m trying to have a serious conversation,” he said. 

“I know,” she told him. “And I’m trying to tell you it’s not necessary. I know you trust me, and I know you worry. That worry isn’t… completely unfounded,” she forced herself to admit. “I wanted you to know that I take your concerns seriously, and that I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that I’m safe.” 

He looked at her for a long time. “I love you,” he told her seriously. 

She smiled at him. “I know. I love you too. This was me trying to show you, I guess. And showing you that I love myself too, and that I’m capable.” 

“You’re amazing,” he told her. 

“I really am,” she said.


End file.
